Traveling by Jeep, boat and foot, Tribune-Review investigative reporter Carl Prine and photojournalist Justin Merriman covered nearly 2,000 miles over two months along the border with Mexico to report on coyotes — the human traffickers who bring illegal immigrants into the United States. Most are Americans working for money and/or drugs. This series reports how their operations have a major impact on life for residents and the environment along the border — and beyond.

By Josh Yohe

Monday, June 3, 2013, 10:39 p.m.

Tomas Vokoun's dream stretch in the Penguins' net ended at the 16:31 mark of the first period Monday at Consol Energy Center.

Marc-Andre Fleury's nightmare resumed shortly thereafter.

The Penguins generally were a mess in their 6-1 setback in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final against the Boston Bruins, and their goaltending situation is more unstable than ever.

Just who will start Game 3?

“It's the coach's decision,” said goalie Tomas Vokoun, who was yanked late in the first period after allowing three goals.

“I'm a player. I'm ready to play any time they tell me.”

Vokoun wasn't impressed with his team's performance.

“We just didn't play a good game,” he said. “We just deviated from our game plan. They are too good of a team to try to outscore. They're not going to let you do that. Every time we beat them this year, it was a tight-checking game. We were going to use a 1-0 or 2-1 mentality. We didn't do a very good job of staying focused tonight.”

Vokoun believes too many Penguins are attempting to win the game on their own. Some teamwork, he believes, could go a long way as opposed to individualism.

“We've got to change our mindset,” he said. “Play differently. We have to stay focused on our game plan. That means you play for 60 minutes. Unfortunately, we gave up the first goal in both games. At that point, everyone tries to do it on their own. That just doesn't work.”

Vokoun, the starter since recording a shutout in Game 5 against the New York Islanders in the first round, allowed three first-period goals and received the hook.

The first goal came on a breakaway, the second on defenseman Kris Letang's turnover and the third on a ghastly defensive breakdown, but coach Dan Bylsma had decided that six goals in the first four periods of the series was enough and summoned Fleury.

“It's tough,” Bylsma said. “I don't think there's a lot of fault in those three goals by the goaltender. It's tough to evaluate, given the breakdowns and the scoring chances they scored on.”

“I didn't feel they were bad goals,” Vokoun said. “But that's part of hockey. I'm sure the coach wanted to change the momentum.”

Fleury, the goaltender who once famously always made the big save at the right moment, has provided precisely the opposite in recent springs.

It happened again Monday.

He took the ice to a standing ovation late in the first period, the crowd encouraging him like in past times when the goaltender had dealt with struggles. Historically, Fleury responds to such adversity.

Not on this night.

Only 25 seconds after center Brandon Sutter pumped life into the Penguins with their only goal of this series, Fleury let an imminently stoppable, unscreened Brad Marchand shot beat his glove.

Fleury allowed two more goals.

“I tried to get there as fast as possible,” Fleury said of Marchand's goal, which was the backbreaker. “It's been a long time. That goal gave them the momentum right back.”

TribLive commenting policy

You are solely responsible for your comments and by using TribLive.com you agree to our Terms of Service.

We moderate comments. Our goal is to provide substantive commentary for a general readership. By screening submissions, we provide a space where readers can share intelligent and informed commentary that enhances the quality of our news and information.

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderating decisions are subjective. We will make them as carefully and consistently as we can. Because of the volume of reader comments, we cannot review individual moderation decisions with readers.

We value thoughtful comments representing a range of views that make their point quickly and politely. We make an effort to protect discussions from repeated comments  either by the same reader or different readers.

We follow the same standards for taste as the daily newspaper. A few things we won't tolerate: personal attacks, obscenity, vulgarity, profanity (including expletives and letters followed by dashes), commercial promotion, impersonations, incoherence, proselytizing and SHOUTING. Don't include URLs to Web sites.

We do not edit comments. They are either approved or deleted. We reserve the right to edit a comment that is quoted or excerpted in an article. In this case, we may fix spelling and punctuation.

We welcome strong opinions and criticism of our work, but we don't want comments to become bogged down with discussions of our policies and we will moderate accordingly.

We appreciate it when readers and people quoted in articles or blog posts point out errors of fact or emphasis and will investigate all assertions. But these suggestions should be sent via e-mail. To avoid distracting other readers, we won't publish comments that suggest a correction. Instead, corrections will be made in a blog post or in an article.

Total Promotional Solutions

A division of Trib Total Media is your one-stop-shop for all of your branded merchandise needs.

We specialize in providing quality affordable promotional products for every type of business including non-profits, schools, universities, sports teams and more. With 1000’s of products to choose from, our knowledgeable staff can help you find the perfect apparel item or product to suit your needs and budget.

Digital Sales

We offer a wide variety of traditional and new digital advertising options customized to fit your needs!

Whether you're just starting out, or you've been a keystone in the community for years, our knowledgeable staff can provide you with a customized package including online banners/advertisements, Social Media Marketing (Facebook / Twitter), Website development, Search Engine Optimization, Email Marketing solutions and much more!

Contact your local sales rep today for details, personalized proposal and a meeting to discuss how we can meet your needs.